'Stalag 17'

'Stalag 17'

Paramount Pictures

William Holden won his only Oscar in Billy Wilder's dark World War II comedy, which arrived in July 1953. The film is set in a German POW camp where one of the prisoners is considered a German traitor. The No. 1 suspect is the slick Sefton (Holden), a cynical, gruff prisoner who barters with the Germans for all sorts of goodies. Charlton Heston was the original choice to play the role of Sefton, but as the character got darker, Wilder went to Holden, who had starred in his 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard."

William Holden won his only Oscar in Billy Wilder's dark World War II comedy, which arrived in July 1953. The film is set in a German POW camp where one of the prisoners is considered a German traitor. The No. 1 suspect is the slick Sefton (Holden), a cynical, gruff prisoner who barters with the Germans for all sorts of goodies. Charlton Heston was the original choice to play the role of Sefton, but as the character got darker, Wilder went to Holden, who had starred in his 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard." (Paramount Pictures)

William Holden won his only Oscar in Billy Wilder's dark World War II comedy, which arrived in July 1953. The film is set in a German POW camp where one of the prisoners is considered a German traitor. The No. 1 suspect is the slick Sefton (Holden), a cynical, gruff prisoner who barters with the Germans for all sorts of goodies. Charlton Heston was the original choice to play the role of Sefton, but as the character got darker, Wilder went to Holden, who had starred in his 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard."